Arkansas Casino GroupTurns In 50,000 Additional Signatures

A group hoping to develop casinos in three Arkansas counties says it has turned in another 50,000 signatures in its effort to place a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The group Arkansas Wins would build casinos in Boone, Miller and Washington counties - all of which are border counties.

Arkansas Wins spokesman Robert Coon says the group delivered the petitions Monday to the Secretary of State's office. Late last month, the Secretary of State's office said it had verified 63,725 signatures on the petition, but 84,859 are needed. Because the group had attained more than 75 percent of the total needed, it was granted more time to gather additional signatures.

The Secretary of State's office did not immediately return calls for comment. It must still verify the signatures.

U.S. Senator Tom Cotton says his party’s presidential nominee Donald Trump should apologize for disparaging exchanges with the family of a Muslim American killed in combat. The Republican senator, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, commented on his affinities and disagreements with Trump’s “underdog” campaign at Tuesday’s meeting of the Political Animals Club in Little Rock.

A proposed constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana for medical use fell short of the number of valid signatures required but will have 30 days to make up the difference.

To qualify for the ballot, proposed amendments this year must collect 84,859 signatures. According to a letter sent by the secretary of state’s office to David Couch of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment, 72,309 of the 99,629 signatures the group submitted were valid.

County clerks around Arkansas are working to determine exactly how many registered voters may have been incorrectly flagged as felons after the state Secretary of State’s office updated a computerized record-keeping system.

Pulaski County Clerk Larry Crane says about half of nearly 2,000 registered voters in the county who were recently flagged under the new system either should be allowed to vote or have an indeterminate status. The number will vary by county, he says, and each county may have to take a different approach to correct the problem.